14 Weeks - More Surgery

Today I went back to see my doctor basically to see if the brace thinga-ma-jig is working. Which we kinda decided that it isn't.

He told me a story about another patient who had the same surgery and the same mobility problems. Ended up she had tons-o scar tissue.

So he thinks that that may be my problem also.

After checking my range of motion and watching my leg shake like CRAZY as I tried to bend it down from an outstretched position we decided that we are going to do surgery.

So, yes, most likely it is scar tissue, but it could also be that the MPFL tendon that he added is too tight.

He told me that I would have a femoral block again, but I asked that we not do that. My toes are still tingly from the last one. It was sooooo frustrating to not be able to cover up that foot at night or put a sock on it or even let anything touch it AT ALL!

He will first "manipulate" my leg... I take this to mean that he will test the range of motion and see how far it go while I'm out. He expects that it will bend farther, but with clicks and such as it passes through the scar tissue. Then he will open up the two small incisions from before and insert the scope to see whats going on in there. Hopefully he finds scar tissue and is able to remove it all. Then he will look over at the tendon to see if it is too tight. If so, he will cut it to release tension and he may have to open up the side incision to do that. Then I get stiched back up.

It's that simple.

The procedure will be done at his office and not at a hopsital. Immediately after the procedure a physical therapist will work with me and Lord willing I will be able to bend my leg much farther than I can now. I will come home that same day and continue with therapy appointments every day for a week.

He also ordered a CPM machine for me. Which is another thinga-ma-jig.

Basically it is the same as the thingy that I have now only it is motorized. I will only get this if insurance covers it because it is "ridiculously expensive" according to my doctor's assistant.

We didn't talk about pain meds except that I'm not having the block... I'm not really sure what I want. The oxycodone was wonderful at helping me deal with pain, but I love food.

And the oxy completely destroyed my appetite. Except for water. I didn't even want chocolate!

Pain or food. Pain or food. Pain or food.

Tis a difficult decision.

13 Weeks - Brace Thinga-ma-jig

Well, my brace thingy came on Wednesday.

A representative came to the house and taught me how to use it. He put it on my leg and tightened it until I felt a slight stretch.

Then we waited.

He said that after 5 minutes the stretch would release and then I could tighten it a little more until I felt a stretch again.

It never released.

He left the house and now I use this thing for about 15 minutes at a time, twice a day.

I called my physical therapist and asked him about it. (I haven't been to P.T. for a couple weeks now.) He said that basically we are retraining the muscle to know that it is "OK" to be in this position. I told him that after 15 minutes it feels worse then when I started, so he said to take it off for a few minutes and then put it back on for another 15.

Beautiful!

I haven't notice progress yet. My doctor wants me to give it 5 days. The rep. said to give it a month or so. The therapist said a couple weeks.

I go back to the doc on Thursday which will be about a week after I started using this torture machine.

If he doesn't see progress he most likely will want to schedule surgery.

We shall see.

11 Weeks

Physical therapy sessions have dwindled down to just once a week because my insurance only covers 15 sessions. I have two left before we start paying for them.

At the beginning of last week he order the brace machine thingy to help me bend. It still hasn't arrived.

On Friday at P.T. he started a massage technique to relax the quads. It actually really helped. I was able to bend a couple degrees more and it didn't feel like such a terrible stretch. He said that I can continue doing a deep tissue massage before stretching every day, so that's what I did over the weekend.

Then I noticed that I wasn't feeling a stretch, but more like a wall.

Usually I bend and start to feel a stretch in the front of the knee as I near 85 degrees. But since hitting 90 degrees I don't feel a stretch anymore.

I feel a wall.

It just won't go any further.

Today I had an appointment with my doctor and I knew going in that we were going to talk about surgery - just to see why it won't bend. He had me bend it and noted the lack of progression. Then he asked me to relax the knee, so that he could do the bending for me. He agreed that it felt like I was "hitting a wall" at 90 degrees.

He is definitely ready to do surgery very soon... he actually made it sound like he doesn't expect the brace thingy to work and seemed like he would prefer to just schedule the surgery today, but I requested that we wait and see how the brace thingy works first.

I go back to see him in two weeks and he expects to schedule the surgery that day... I'm praying that something will loosen up in there and we won't have to do that, but if I don't make progress I'm more than ready to go back under the knife to see what's going on.